Tag: adaptations

To the delight of Wal-Mart and Dollar Tree employees everywhere, blindfold sales have skyrocketed in the past few months. T-shirts have been torn, cloth cut—blinders have been made. This is thanks to Netflix’s 2018 film Bird Box (A Quiet Place‘s cooler, less compelling younger brother); a critical “eh” yet cultural phenomenon based on the novel of the same name by author Josh Malerman.

Their stories revolve around the character of Malorie, a woman who enjoys sailing and running through the woods blindfolded—while tripping over branches and shrubbery. Well, not really. Characters in this post-apocalyptic world use a blindfold to avoid the enticing/suicide inducing visions of the eldritch—invisible creatures that now haunt the Earth. Viewers of the film seemed to admire those trained to function without eyesight…. The resulting #BirdBoxChallenge sparked an onslaught of chaos as people attempted to complete tasks blindfolded. It got so bad that one woman even crashed her car! We reported this story months ago so if you want more information regarding the incident, click here!

Bird Box Challenge while driving…predictable result. This happened on Monday as a result of the driver covering her eyes while driving on Layton Parkway. Luckily no injuries. pic.twitter.com/4DvYzrmDA2

Can’t believe I have to say this, but: PLEASE DO NOT HURT YOURSELVES WITH THIS BIRD BOX CHALLENGE. We don’t know how this started, and we appreciate the love, but Boy and Girl have just one wish for 2019 and it is that you not end up in the hospital due to memes.

When Malerman’s novel came out in 2014, it received a warm reception from the literary community; although, the cultural impact it had was nowhere near that of the car crash, and Will Smith’s genie trashing social media whirlwind. Malerman’s novel probably was overlooked by some—The Happening and The Road were released around the same time with similar apocalyptic themes. It seemed that in 2014, frantic adults ran around with their eyes closed in every movie theater and on every page.

Image Via Amazon.com

A sequel to the 2014 novel entitled Malorie (Sandra Bullock’s titular character) has been confirmed with a release date of October 1st, 2019. In an interview with Esquire, Malerman not only reiterated confirmation of his upcoming sequel but offered up a few other details:

“In the time between Bird Box coming out and the time since I’ve been writing Malorie, I’ve been asked a ton of times: people want to know what happened with Boy and Girl. But as much as I care about Boy and Girl, this isn’t their story. The Bird Box world is Malorie’s story, and I wanted to know more about her. I wanted to get to know her even better.”

The story is set to take place eight years after the ending of Bird Box; it’s worth noting that the book and film differed upon their conclusions. The film ends on a hopeful note—Malorie, Boy, and Girl safely make it to a school for the blind where the two children finally receive proper names. In the book, however, the three find a greenhouse community where everyone has blinded themselves on purpose. So yeah, that’s a bit more brutal and less convenient than the film. The novel’s ending will undoubtedly influence the sequel’s plot—and it will be interesting to see how the inevitable film adaptation differs. I’m sure the subsequent online debauchery will make up for any shortcomings in storytelling.

Featured Image Via Screenrant.com

Syfy is developing so many exciting new shows in the coming months, and another crazy one is headed to the network!

The Hollywood Reporterbroke the news that an adaptation of the Wayward Children series is in development. The four–booknovellaseries takes place in a world where students who return from trips to magical worlds are sent to a mysterious boarding school to readjust to becoming ordinary children again. When the children start turning up dead, those that remain must find the killer if they want to return to their magical worlds.

Seanan McGuire. Image Via Wikipedia

Seanan McGuire is the author of the books, and she took to Twitter to express her excitement about the news but informed fans that she does not have any involvement in the writing of the series.

I DON’T HAVE TO LIE TO YOU ANYMORE.
THE WAYWARD CHILDREN BOOKS ARE BEING DEVELOPED FOR TELEVISION.
I AM AN ENDLESS SCREAM.

I am the boss of my books. I can do and write whatever I want. But once I sell the film rights, someone else becomes the boss of that version of the characters. Choices are going to be made, and not by me, and I will not have the authority to object to them.

I trust that their changes will be choices, not accidents. And that matters. That lets me relax and watch this whole process with wonder and awe, and with faith. I am on the roller coaster along with all the rest of you, and it’s INCREDIBLE.

Featured Image Via Bookish Muggle

I could use a good cry.

Anthony Doerr’s word-weaved masterwork, All The Light We Cannot Seeis being turned into a limited series by Netflix and Shawn Ley’s production company, 21 Laps (Stranger Things, Arrival). All The Light We Cannot See tells the story of six-year-old Marie-Laure LeBlanc…

Image Via Giphy.com

No. No relation to that LeBlanc. By the way, that meme needs to be outlawed in the dating app community.

Anyway, Marie (who loves books) lives in 1934 era Paris and suffers from deteriorating eyesight along with juvenile cataracts—she’s fully blind. Her father works in the Museum of Natural History and when the Nazis occupy Paris, Marie and her father flee the city with a valuable jewel from said museum. On a collision course with Marie is eight-year-old Werner Pfennig (who loves radios), an orphan who lives in a German mining town with his sister. He becomes aptly proficient in the art of building and fixing crucial radio instruments—leading to his recruitment into a hellish Nazi school and in turn, their military. The two attempt to find their place amongst a war-torn landscape that threatens to deteriorate the certainty of their existence.

Image Via Amazon.com

When the book was released in 2014 it spent one-hundred-thirty weeks on the New York Times best-seller list, won the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction and the Pulitzer Prize in 2015. Doerr’s novel has been praised for its vivid imagery and gorgeous metaphors. His story takes place during a time infested with, and driven by, great evil—but at its heart is a desire to be good to one another. It’s a coming of age story, a philosophical exploration of morality, and a charming exercise in some supremely beautiful prose.

No writer is currently attached to the project nor has any casting news been announced. Netflix has already experienced success with popular adaptations like Big Little Lies—they are also hard at work adapting Daphne Du Maurier’s Rebeccaand Isabel Wilkerson’s The Warmth of Other Suns. It would seem the good people at Netflix have good taste in literature, we’ll just have to see what they do with Doerr’s words. I can’t imagine the magic manifested within the pages of All The Light We Cannot See can be articulated on screen.

If you’re like me, and the only place better than a library, or bookstore is a movie theater, then you would completely lose control of social etiquette and squeal like an owl in heat if one of your favorite characters decided to serve you popcorn. Well, that’s exactly what happened to the citizens of Jersey Saturday night when Brie Larson surprised her fans at the AMC Clifton Commons 16 in Clifton. A committee of squealing owls was lucky enough to have their opening weekend Captain Marvel experience enhanced by the woman in red, yellow and blue herself. Not only did Ms. Larson make an appearance, but she full on embraced the role of moviegoer and then employee?

Insiderspoke with Susana Moimenta, a woman who took her little cousins to the event:

“It was completely surreal to see her at the concession stand. We weren’t expecting it at all,” Moimenta told Insider over Instagram. “We heard another moviegoer say Brie Larson is here and thought they were joking.” “I am so so grateful that we got to meet her. My little cousins are HUGE Marvel fans and to have them actually meet one of their heroes in incredible. Brie Larson did a tremendous job,” Moimenta added of getting a chance to see Larson. “[I’m] so overjoyed that my family gets to grow up with role models and representation of strong women on screen.”

The endearing thing about the Marvel Cinematic Universe is the community of celebrities, creatives and fans it has accumulated. I went to a screening Saturday myself and thoroughly enjoyed the movie- one because Marvel has perfected a winning formula, two, a character has finally gone super saiyan in mainstream cinema and three, because of simple things that outlined the night. More than the plot or overall message of the film, I’ll remember the young girl three rows back and her loud “oooohhhhhhh shoot” reaction to a line in the movie spoken by the character Maria- “I’m going to put my foot…” It was the only reaction in a theater full of people to that line, and everyone heard it. What followed was an outburst of laughter all around me, not at the movie but at the young girl’s amusement with a certain character’s gumption. When the credits began to roll, I, with a handful of other people, took a well-deserved bathroom break before returning to a still full theater. The mid-credit and end credit scenes have had that big an impact on the movie-going experience.

Image Via Giphy.com

I don’t think anyone thought that Iron Man in 2008 would be the beginning of an entire cinematic universe that would have such an effect on so many people. Multiple movies helping further the battle against issues like representation and totalitarianism while maintaining the simplistic appeal of valour and heartfelt dedication to one’s moral compass. Brie Larson is clearly embracing the love and excitement that surround these type of films while gracefully settling into her new position of superhero. If Saturday was any indication, one of the most important things Brie Larson and the Marvel Cinematic Universe has taught us is to do two things in life—-be nice, humble and have fun.

Captain Marvel had a record-breaking weekend, making $455 million at the global box office. The sixth highest grossing movie of all time (internationally).

P.S. That opening Stan Lee montage and subsequent cameo were charming and well done.

Image Via Yahoo.com

R.I.P. Master Lee. You showed the world that there’s a hero in all of us.

Past the page.

Expansive book series like Harry Potter or The Chronicles of Narnia give birth to a certain type of hope in children: the hope that one day magic and destiny will interrupt their normal lives and put them on the path to fulfill their chosen-one-esque destinies. Unfortunately, no lovable half-giants bring them birthday cakes nor do any mysterious Professors let them explore their closets (which is probably a good thing). As these children grow into adults, they continue to harbor this hope… albeit in secret. I imagine this hope was the inspiration for the adult fantasy novel, The Magicians.

Image Via Amazon

The Magicians is to Harry Potter and The Chronicles of Narnia what AGame of Thrones is to The Lord of the Rings: an adult take on a classic type of tale/genre—but definitely funnier. The novel follows Quentin Coldwater, who, instead of attending an interview at Princeton, is magically rerouted to a college of magic in New York called Brakebills. Quentin is an obsessive fan of a series of books called Fillory andFurther, a classic high fantasy series depicting a group of kids who discover a land called Fillory—basically a satirical Narnia. Turns out this place is real, and Quentin and company have to save it. Too bad they’re human disasters… and too bad Fillory is nearly as messed up as they are.

Lev Grossman defied genre expectations by injecting an earnest absurdity into these fantasy worlds worlds, adding hilarious characters who subvert hero archetypes—all the while never abandoning his clear love of the genre. You’d have to know and love fantasy to comment on it so astutely, and so it’s clear the genre means as much to Grossman as it does to Quentin. Quentin’s importance diminishes as a committee of well-rounded male and female characters are introduced. On top of this, he grounded the world in realism, presenting magic to the audience the same way one would a true weapon/vice. The Magicians was a hit in 2009 so obviously, Grossman followed it up with two sequels: The Magician King (2011) and The Magician’s Land (2014). Even more obvious is the fact that in 2015, The Magicians was turned into a television show on Syfy.

Image Via Giphy

I didn’t realize they could say “fuck” so much on Syfy—series creator Sera Gamble has said they are allowed ten per episode. I also never expected a television show to surpass the books in almost every way. The show, now in its fourth season, organically challenges the idea of the male “chosen one,” cliche relationships, and side characters. The writers are fearless and confident, coining phrases such as “don’t c** ck out on me,” which is a valid critique of “don’t p***y out on me.” The show manages to balance smart, funny, and emotional more brilliantly than anything in recent memory. Some of its themes are truly dark and harrowing and others light and invigorating. Although I used the word “satirical” before, the show does take itself serious enough to warrant emotional investment from its audience. It’s absurd—not meaningless. One minute an Aslan-like character is taking a dump in the well of all magic and the next a beloved character is sacrificing themselves to save their friends. The amount of world-building the show manages on a smaller budget is also thoroughly impressive.

Image Via Fandom.com

The Magicians has recently been gaining attention for its treatment of slash fiction, a type of fan fiction that romantically entangles characters from popular media that typically wouldn’t be involved. In episode five of season three, “A Life in a Day”, two of the main characters, Quentin and Elliot are sent on a quest to “discover the beauty of all life.” They end up in a past version of the Fillory (satirical Narnia) they know, stumbling upon a mosaic. The assumption is that if they complete the mosaic (in puzzle form) they will have completed their quest. Over the course of a truly moving montage that spans a lifetime, the viewer finds out that the only way to show the “beauty of all life” is to live an entire life. The montage briefly shows (but does not revolve around) the two characters hooking up. Most people thought that would be as far as that particular “ship” went, but, without spoiling anything the writers have revisited it this season in a surprisingly real and grounded way.

Image Via Hidden remote

The Magicians launched a series of novels that aimed to have fun with the genre. In creating his novels, Grossman has unwittingly unleashed a genre-demolishing franchise. The Magicians is a show that does whatever the hell it wants, and it does it brilliantly. The writers appreciate and listen to their fan base. The show is funny, but not ridiculous. It’s grounded fantasy dipped in relatability and heart. If you haven’t seen the show, watch it. It’s super fun—and, as we’ve established, super meaningful as well.

Site links

About Us

Bookstr connects books with people. We make discovering books entertaining, informative, and socially engaging. And most importantly, we believe that the best recommendations come from people you know and trust.

Newsletter Subscription

If you want to subscribe to our monthly newsletter, please submit the form below.